REVIVALS 


Their  Place  and  their  Power 


JOHNvSON 


'M^'Sm^^^^^MM 


jdV  3790  .J64  1882 
Johnson,  Herrick, 
Revivals 


1832-1913 


BV  3791 
Johnsoj 
Reviva 


REVIVALS: 


THEIR    PLACE   AND   THEIR 
POWER. 


REV.  HERRICK  JOHNSON,  D.  D, 


CHICAGO  : 

F.  H.  Revell,  148  AND  150  Madison  Street, 
Publisher  of  Evangelical  Literature. 


Entered  acoordiug  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1882,  by 

F.  H.  REVELL, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


'is 


Hf 


PEIITCETOIT 
ntC.  MAR  1882 

THHOLOGIG&L 


REVIVALS. 

I.  INTRODUCTORY. 
That  a  prejudice,  and,  in  some  eases,  a  very  decided  prej- 
udice, exists,  even  amongst  good  Christian  men,  against 
what  are  termed  "  revivals  of  religion,"  cannot  be  denied. 
Ministers  of  the  Gospel  will  sometimes  express  them- 
selves as  if  they  regarded  revivals  as  abnormal  and  unde- 
sirable conditions  of  church  life.  They  will  speak  dis- 
paragingly of  them  as  questionable  agencies  of  growth, 
as  attended  with  varied,  serious  and  inevitable  evils,  as 
spurts  of  enthusiasm  born  of  excitement,  as  begetting  an 
emotional  and  a  spasmodic,  instead  of  a  principled  and 
stable  piety.  They  will  tell  you  that  the  true  and  healthful 
life  of  the  church  is  one  of  steady  growth,  that  the 
accessions  from  the  world  should  be  constant,  that  God's 
people  should  always  be  revived. 


4  REVIVALS. 

Their  position  is  strongly  fortified  by  the  large  meas- 
ure of  truth  that  supports  it.  Unquestionably  very 
serious  evils  have  attended  many  of  these  seasons  of 
special  religious  interest,  evils  so  manifestly  pernicious  as 
to  challenge  the  thoughtful  attention  of  the  church,  and 
to  justify  resolute  measures  for  their  repression  and 
eradication.  Just  as  unquestionably,  the  people  of  God 
ought  to  live  at  a  much  higher  level  of  spiritual  life 
than  is  reached  by  the  mass  of  them  in  ordinary  and 
actual  experience. 

But  with  both  these  points  freely  conceded,  we  think 
it  can  still  be  made  clear  to  demonstration  that  revivals  of 
religion  have  their  legitimate  place  as  an  important  means 
of  Christian  nurture  and  conquest,  that  they  are,  there- 
fore, not  only  not  to  be  condemned  and  avoided,  but  to 
be  counted  among  the  things  for  which  every  pastor  and 
every  church  should  labor  and  pray. 

Let  us  first  define  our  terms  and  clearly  understand 
what  is  meant  by  the  phrase  "  religious  revival." 

11.    REVIVALS  DEFINED. 

They  are  seasons  of  special  interest  and  activity  in 
religion,  just  as  revivals  of  business  are  seasons  of 
increased    activity   and   profit   in    business.       Strictly, 


VINDICATION  OF  REVIVALS.  5 

revivals  can  be  predicated  only  of  God's  people — those 
who  have  once  known  the  life  of  God,  and  who  by 
Gods  spirit  are  now  re-vived.  They  are  the  quickening  - 
and  the  stirring  to  intenser  manifestations,  graces  and 
activities  that  have  already  had  place  in  their  life.  Con- 
versions from  the  impenitent  world  are  rather  the  fruits  of  ♦ 
revivals  in  the  church,  and  constitute  what  might  more 
properly  be  termed  awakenings.  But  by  accepted  and 
general  usRge  the  term  "  revival  "  is  made  to  cover  both 
the  quickened  spiritual  interest  and  activity  of  Chris, 
tians  and  the  turning  to  God  of  the  hitherto  impenitent. 

III.    VINDICATION  OF  REVIVALS. 

1.       FROM    HISTORY    AND    EXPERIENCE. 

Revivals  have  marhed  the  histori/  of  God^s  people 
throughout  the  whole  period  of  God's  dealing  icith  them. 
They  have  blazed  a  path  through  all  the  centuries. 
The  Scriptures  themselves  testify  to  this  point.  Under 
the  good  king  Hezekiah,  2  Chron.,  xxx,  the  people  were 
summoned  to  the  House  of  God  at  Jerusalem,  to  keep 
the  Passover.  Some  laughed  the  invitation  to  scorn  ; 
but  many  humbled  themselves  and  came  up  to  Jerusa- 
lem and  kept  the  sacred  feast  seven  days.  And  when 
these  were  ended  the  people  had  so  good  a  time  that 


6  REVIVALS. 

they  took  counsel  together  to  keep  other  seven  days, 
and  they  kept  seven  days  more  with  gladness;  and  there 
was  great  joy  in  Jerusalem,  the  like  of  which  had  not 
been  known  since  the  time  of  Solomon.  It  was  a  genu- 
ine protracted  meeting,  as  true  a  revival  of  religion  as 
was  ever  known.  Again  and  again  did  Israel  in  her 
history  thus  take  on  new  life.  And  the  church  in  that 
upper  room,  praying  for  the  Holy  Spirit  in  mighty 
power  (Acts,  i,  14),  and  the  baptism  that  came  there  on 
the  day  of  Pentecost  (Acts,  ii,  1-J:),  was  another  Scrip- 
tural revival. 

And  that  wonderful  work  at  Ephesus,  when  Paul  held 
a  meeting  for  prayer  and  conference  every  day  for  up- 
ward of  "two  years,"  and  "mightily  grew  the  word  of 
God  and  prevailed"  (Acts,  xix,  8-20) — that  was  one 
of  the  grandest  revivals  on  record,  "  all  they  that  dwelt 
in  Asia  "  hearing  the  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Ever  since  there  have  been  times,  at  frequently  recur- 
ring intervals,  of  special  manifestations  of  the  mighty 
power  of  God  in  the  outpouring  of  His  Spirit.  No 
history  of  the  church,  no  history  of  any  evangelical 
portion  of  the  church,  could  be  written  without  con- 
spicuous mention  of  these  marked  seasons  of  grace.  To 
deny  that  they  have  been  of  God,  is  to  fly  in  the  face  of 


VINDICATION  OF  REVIVALS.  7 

the  most  abundant  and  convincing  testimony,  both  hu- 
man and  divine.  To  admit  that  God  has  signally  and 
mightily  worked  in  and  through  these  agencies,  thus 
setting  His  seal  on  them,  is  to  admit  their  vindication. 
Indeed,  the  divine  agency  is  inseparable  from  revival. 
There  can  be  no  genuine  revival  without  it ;  so  that  he 
who  speaks  in  indiscriminate  and  sweeping  opposition, 
is  really  challenging  the  ways  of  the  Almighty,  and 
would  best  take  care  lest  he  be  found  fighting  against 
God. 

2.       FROM    THE    NECESSITIES    OF    HUMAN    NATURE. 

Revivals  correspond  to  the  promptings  and  necessities 
of  human  nature^  and  are  founded  in  reason  as  well  as 
experience.  That  absorbed  and  almost  exclusive  atten- 
tion to  religious  matters  which  is  not  only  possible  but 
justifiable  at  certain  periods,  would  not  be  possible  con 
stantly,  at  all  periods.  The  relations  of  society  and  the 
necessities  of  secular  life  are  such  as  to  make  unavoid- 
able demands  upon  time  and  strength.  Often  these 
demands  are  particularly  pressing,  and  to  meet  them  is  as 
clearly  a  duty  as  to  pray.  The  discharge  of  such  duties, 
however,  compels  withdrawal  from  that  absorbed  atten- 
tion to  duties  directly  spiritual,  to  which  Christians  are 
at  intervals  able  to  "rive  themselves.     Take  this  in  con- 


8  REVIVALS. 

nection  with  the  limitations  of  our  physical  nature,  mak- 
ing it  impossible  to  endure  for  long  while  the  nervous  strain 
and  draft  of  constant  and  intense  spiritual  interest  and 
unwonted  toil,  such  as  is  common  to  seasons  of  marked 
religious  fervor,  and  we  have  a  vindication  of  revivals 
laid  in  the  very  nature  of  things.  Labor  here,  as  every- 
where else,  may  be  redoubled  and  intensified  on  special 
occasions  for  special  results,  but  it  cannot  be  kept  at  that 
tension  without  prematurely  killing  the  laborer. 

This  argument  gets  confirmation  in  that  law  of  nature 
by  which  we  have  seed-time  and  harvest.  "  One  soweth 
and  another  reapeth,"  is  Christ's  own  application  of  this 
law  to  the  spiritual  world.  Sowing  is  not  reaping.  Seed 
requires  time  for  germination  and  growth.  We  may 
labor  and  other  men  may  enter  into  the  fruit  of  our 
labor. 

Let  me  say  nothing  to  lessen  by  one  iota  any  effort 
for,  and  expectation  of,  immediate  and  constant  fruit. 
I  would  repeat  and  emphasize  the  words  of  the  Master, 
"  Say  not  ye  there  are  yet  four  months  and  then  cometh 
harvest  ?  Behold,  lift  up  your  eyes  and  look  on  the 
fields,  for  they  are  white  already  to  harvest."  Let  us 
be  always  thrusting  in  the  sickle.  Let  us  cultivate  the 
habit  of  believing  that  on  any  week  of  the  round  year, 


VINDICATION  OF  REVIVALS.  9 

we  may  gather  sheaves  for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 
We  know  there  are  two  reapers  that  never  cease  their 
reaping — Satan  and  Death.  The  steady  swing  of  their 
sickles  never  stops.  With  them  the  haryest  is  always 
ripe^  always  noiv.  So  should  it  be  with  us  as  reapers  for 
God. 

But  while  this  is  true,  it  is  equally  true  that  the 
preacher  is  a  sower  going  forth  to  sow ;  that  some  seeds 
never  come  to  quick  maturity  ;  that  much  that  is  sown 
germinates  and  bears  fruit  only  after  a  plenteous  rain  of 
righteousness.  There  are  special  harvest  seasons  in  the 
spiritual  world  as  in  the  natural  world — times  of  great 
ingathering,  when  as  round  about  Ephesus,  mightily 
grows  the  Word  of  God  and  prevails. 

3.       FROM    THEIR    EFFECTS    ON    THE    CHURCH  AND  THE 
MINISTRY. 

Revivals  deepen  the  spirituality  of  the  church  and 
the  ministry.  Churches  drop  their  feuds,  Christians  shake 
off  their  dead  weights  of  formality  and  worldliness,  and 
get  experiences  of  God's  grace  they  never  wholly  lose. 
Ministers  grow  used  to  direct,  pungent,  personal  preaching, 
and  learn  in  their  dealings  with  the  human  heart,  more  of 
its  evasions  and  shifts  and  lying  refuges  and  its  possible 
avenues  of  approach,  and  become  wiser  in  winning  souls, 


10  EEVIVALS. 

in  one  season  of  revival  work  than  in  a  whole  decade  of 
ordinary  ministry.  This,  of  course,  applies  only  to 
revivals  of  the  Divine  sort,  born  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
Truth. 

4.       FROM  THE  CHARACTER  OF  CONVERSIONS    IN    REVI- 
VALS. 

Persons  horn  to  God  in  season^i  of  revival^  are^  as  a 
Tule^  more  active  and  constant  and  consecrated  than 
those  coming  into  the  church  at  other  times.  .  This  is 
contrary,  perhaps,  to  a  somewhat  prevalent  impression, 
but  it  has  been  the  testimony  of  many  of  the  best  and 
wisest  ministers  of  the  church.  Wesley  affirmed  it; 
Edwards  affirmed  it ;  and  it  is  the  unquestionable  truth. 
Look  at  the  facts  in  confirmation.  Take  the  pillars  that 
have  stood  so  long  in  the  churches  throughout  New 
York  State,  the  goodly  and  godly  men  who  have  for 
scores  of  years  let  their  light  shine,  and  it  would  proba- 
bly be  a  surprise  to  many,  to  find  how  large  a  proportion 
of  them  were  the  fruits  of  revivals,  and  what  numbers 
date  their  new  life  from  the  mighty  awakenings  under 
Charles  G.  Finney. 

There  are  two  all-sufficient  reasons  why  it  should  be, 
that  converts  in  revivals  are  the  best  the  church  re- 
ceives. 


VINDICATION  OF  REVIVALS.  11 

(a)  They  hear  the  plainest,  simplest,  most  practical, 
most  searching  truths  of  God,  bearing  immediately  on 
the  way  of  salvation,  day  by  day.  The  way  is  made 
clear.  They  know  what  it  is  to  come  to  Christ.  They 
are  made  familiar  with  the  elementary  truths.  They 
are  therefore  less  likely  to  be  deceived,  and  they  can 
give  a  reason,  a  clear,  intelligent  reason,  for  the  hope 
that  is  in  them.  In  my  experience  as  pastor,  covering 
years  of  ordinary  accessions  to  the  church,  and  several 
years  of  accessions  by  precious  revivals,  I  have  found 
that  intelligent  views  of  the  truth  and  proofs  of  disci- 
pleship,  and  subsequent  stability  and  activity  were 
much  more  prevalent  in  the  latter  class  than  in  the 
former. 

(6)  They  become  immediately  active  as  Christians, 
and  at  once  begin  to  exercise  their  gifts,  both  in  testify- 
ing of  the  Grrace  of  God  and  in  seeking  to  bring  others 
to  Christ.  Thus  they  form  habits  of  service  and  devo- 
tion by  which  they  are  developed  and  made  robust  and 
stalwart  in  Christian  character. 

Now  neither  of  these  points  is  so  likely  to  be  true  of 
those  who  come  quietly  into  the  church  in  times  of  no 
special  religious  interest.  Their  hearts  are  not  so 
searched  by  the  truth,  line  upon  line,  and  they  are  not  so 


12  REVIVALS. 

likely  to  be  put  to  active  service.     There  is  neither  the 
stimulus  nor  the  inviting  occasion. 

Surely,  therefore,  in  view  of  these  facts  and  these  rea- 
sons for  the  facts,  revivals  are  not  to  be  regarded  with 
suspicion,  and  as  experiences  to  be  avoided,  nor  even  as 
"  gracious  irregularities,"  but  as  a  normal  and  blessed 
means  of  growth  and  ingathering.  Their  evils,  excesses, 
questionable  methods  should  be  determinedly  opposed 
and  repressed,  but  revivals  themselves  should  be  sought 
and  welcomed  as  of  God. 

IV.  EVILS  TO  BE  AVOIDED  IN  CONNECTION 
WITH  REVIVALS. 

(1)  The  recognition  of  any  particular  ministers  or 
class  of  ministers  as  revivalists.  There  is  no  such  dis- 
tinctive class  known  to  the  New  Testament.  It  is  mak- 
ing an  invidious  and  reprehensible  comparison.  It  is 
giving  countenance  among  the  people  to  the  idea  that 
certain  ministers  on  wheels  have  a  kind  of  monopoly  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  can  command  His  services  on  call.  It 
is  disturbing  and  dishonoring  to  the  pastorate.  Every 
pastor  should  be  a  revivalist,  should  always  aim  to  be 
in  a  revived  state,  should  preach  revival  sermons,  use 
revival  methods,  and  expect  revival  results. 


EVILS  TO  BE  AVOIDED.  13 

(2)  The  notion  that  is  implied  in  the  phrase  ''''get- 
ting up  a  o-evival,^^  as  if  revivals  were  a  mere  matter  of 
human  device  and  machinery.  This  notion  looks  too 
much  to  man's  ap;ency.  It  magnifies  the  creature.  It 
is  of  the  earth  earthy.  Revivals  are  never  gotten  up. 
They  are  brought  down.  They  are  not  subject  to  order. 
They  are  born  of  God. 

(3)  The  notion  that  any  excitement  is  pernicious^ 
and  is,  there/ore,  to  be  studiously  repressed.  Many  a 
minister  has  failed  of  the  precious  fruits  of  revival 
because  of  having  spread  over  every  meeting  a  great 
blanket  of  carefulness.  We  Presbyterians,  as  a  class,  are 
too  much  afraid  of  the  emotions.  We  seem  to  be  in  con- 
stant dread  of  the  contagion  of  a  little  Methodist  enthu- 
siasm. 

Now,  there  is  an  excitement  that  is  wholly  or  chiefly 
animal.  It  is  not  grounded  in  rational  conviction.  It 
is  fostered  by  rubbing  of  hands,  tones  of  voice,  chorus 
of  song,  affecting  stories,  mere  hortatory  appeals  and 
social  bodily  contact.  It  can  be  worked  up  any  day  in  a 
crowd  by  a  skillful  leader.  Such  excitement  is  indeed  a 
sore  evil  in  connection  with  any  service  of  God,  and 
every  pastor  ought  to  set  his  face  like  a  flint  against  it. 

But  because  excitement  like  this  is  bad,  all  excite- 


14  REVIVALS. 

ment  is  not  bad.  God's  truth  is  for  the  mind.  The 
mind  is  the  rational  road  to  the  heart.  If  the  truth 
excite,  the  excitement  is  based  on  rational  grounds,  and 
is  good  and  only  good.  To  deprecate  this  is  to  deprecate 
just  those  eflPects  of  divine  truth  which  it  should  and 
must  produce,  where  it  has  anything;  like  its  appropriate 
power.  For  a  minister  to  report  concerning  a  revival  of 
religion  in  his  church  that  it  was  all  very  quiet  and 
unattended  by  any  excitement  is  either  to  behe  the  facts, 
or  to  make  out  the  work  most  shallow  and  superficial, 
touching  only  the  merest  surface  of  human  nature. 

A  Christian  in  the  midst  of  revival  work,  realizing 
the  condition  of  the  ungodly,  their  peril,  guilt,  opportu- 
nity and  possibilities  of  life  and  death,  ought  to  be 
stirred  with  the  profoundest  feeling. 

A  sinner,  under  conviction  of  sin,  asking  what  he 
must  do  to  be  saved,  and  settling  the  momentous  ques- 
tion by  at  last  believing  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
ought  to  be  deeply  excited.  If  he  be  not,  it  is  because 
he  has  seen  precious  little,  either  of  his  sin  or  his  Lord. 

A  man  who  will  be  stirred  and  thrilled  over  his  own 
rescue  from  some  impending  physical  danger,  and  yet  will 
coolly  talk  about  having  had  no  feeling  in  being  rescued 
from  death  and  hell,  betrays  his  utter  misapprehension  of 


EVILS  TO  BE  AVOIDED.  15 

the  stupendous  fact,  and  suggests  the  suspicion  that  tlie 
fact  is  as  wantino-  in  his  case  as  the  feelin";. 

When  those  three  thousand  at  Pentecost  were  con- 
victed and  pricked  in  their  heart,  and  were  led  to  cry 
out,  "  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?"  is  it  to  be 
supposed  they  had  no  excitement  ?  And  when  the 
Philippian  jailer  sprang  in  and  came  trembling,  and  fell 
down  before  Paul  and  Silas,  and  said,  "  Sirs,  what  must 
I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  was  he  considering  and  settling  the 
great  question  with  that  exceeding  quietness  that  we 
hear  so  often  commended  ?  And  when  that  mighty 
work  of  grace  was  going  on  at  Ephesus,  and  fear  fell  on 
all,  and  the  name  of  Jesus  was  magnified,  and  many 
dealers  in  magic  brought  their  books  together  and 
burned  them  before  all  men,  the  price  of  which  was 
fifty  thousand  pieces  of  silver,  was  it  all  so  serene  and 
still  that  scarcely  a  ripple  stirred  the  surface  of  Ephesian 
life,  or  was  the  whole  city  ablaze  with  excitement,  and 
everybody  talking  about  the  wondrous  work?  Don't 
be  afraid  of  any  excitement  born  of  the  truth.  Be 
afraid  rather  of  the  conversion  that  has  been  unattended 
by  feeling.  President  Edwards,  in  giving  some  account 
of  the  efi"ect  of  the  great  awakening  of  1735,  says: 
"  Now  if  such  things  are  enthusiasm,  and  the  fruits  of  a 


16  REVIVALS. 

distempered  brain,  let  iny  brain  be  forevermore  possessed 
of  that  happy  distemper.  If  this  be  distraction,  I  pray 
God  that  the  world  of  mankind  may  be  all  seized  with 
this  benign,  meek,  beneficent,  beatifical,  glorious  dis- 
traction." 

(4.)  The  notion  that  any  particular  method  or 
machinery  is  essential  to  revival.  Because  certain 
methods  or  instrumentalities  have  been  used  successfully, 
there  is  a  tendency  in  human  nature  to  lean  on  them 
and  to  give  them  vital  place  in  plan  and  thought,  and  to 
think  that  revival  can  be  had  by  no  other  road.  There  is 
just  one  agent  absolutely  indispensable  to  revival — God's 
Spirit.  There  is  just  one  instrument  absolutely  indis- 
pensable to  revival — God's  truth.  All  else,  absolutely 
all,  is  minor,  secondary,  variable,  incidental,  dispensable _ 
Special  appointments,  varied  instruments,  different 
methods  may  be  good.  Wisdom  will  suggest  choice  of 
these  to  suit  circumstances.  But  all  trust  for  efi'ective- 
ness  must  be  in  God's  Spirit  and  truth  alone. 

(5)  The  notion  that  anybody  who  is  willing  to  worJc, 
is  jit  for  iDork^  in  time  of  revival.  Indiscriminate 
service,  whether  in  the  pulpit,  the  lecture-room,  the 
inquiry  meeting  or  the  parish,  is  one  of  the  worst  evils 
connected  with  revival  work.     Let  the  pastor  be  per- 


WORK  PREPARATORY  TO  REVIVAL.  17 

fectly  sure  of  his  substitute,  both  as  to  practical  wisdom 
and  present  spiritual  interest,  before  he  allow  that  sub- 
stitute to  take  his  place  eit'.ier  in  preaching,  or  social 
religious  service,  or  personal  counsel. 

V.  THE  CONDITIONS  ESSENTIAL  TO  RE- 
VIVAL. 

Here  they  are  in  the  very  words  of  God  Himself: 
If  my  'people  loJiicli  are  called  by  my  name  shall  humble 
themselves,  and  pray  and  seek  my  face^  and  turn  from 
their  wicked  ways,  then  luill  I  hear  from  heaven,  and 
will  forgive  their  sin,  and  ivill  heal  their  land. — 2 
Chron.,  vii,  14. 

Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  0  God,  and  renew  a 
right  spirit  within  me  ;  cast  me  not  away  from  Thy 
presence,  and  take  not  Thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me. 
Restore  unto  me  the  joy  of  Thy  salvation,  and  uphold 
me  with  Thy  free  spirit.  Then  will  I  teach  transgi-es- 
sors  Thy  ways  and  sinners  shall  be  converted  unto  Thee. 
— Ps.  li,  10-13. 

VL  WORK  PREPARATORY  TO  REVIVAL. 

The  stricter  definition  given  to  revival,  as  applicable 
only  to  the  church,  and  the  Scriptural  conditions  just 


18  REVIVALS. 

named,  point  clearly  to  the  antecedent  steps  to  be  taken 
in  every  case  before  any  mighty  work  of  grace  may  be 
expected.  ^^1^  my  people  who  are  called  hy  my  name 
shall  humble  themselves,"  etc. 

(1)  The  pastor  must  hpgin  with  his  ow)i  heart.  A 
fire  in  the  pulpit  is  the  best  means  of  kindling  a  fire  in 
the  pews.  The  pastor  should  not  talk  about  revival, 
but  he  retHved.  Let  him  expect  nothing  from  his  people 
that  is  not  first  in  his  own  heart.  He  should  not 
bemoan  deadness  in  the  church  before  the  congre- 
gation until  he  has  in  the  closet  bemoaned  deadness  in 
himself  before  God.  No  searching  and  rebuking  ser- 
mons to  his  flock  will  avail  much,  if  he  has  not  already 
felt  the  rebuke  of  them  as  the  truth  has  searched  his 
own  soul. 

(2)  Thus  humbled,  penitent,  burdened,  yearning  for 
the  presence  and  power  of  God,  let  the  pastor  lay  his 
heart  open  to  the  elders  or  deacons,  or  whoever  are  his 
constituted  spiritual  counselors.  They  are  ordained 
with  him  to  the  care  and  watch  of  the  church,  and  his 
natural  helpers  in  every  good  work. 

(3)  The  pastor  should  now  aim  at  great  searchings 
of  heart  with  his  people  Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  preach- 
ing to  the    church,    to    the  church,  TO   THE  CHURCH, 


WORK  PREPARATORY  TO  REVIVAL.      19 

blow  on  blow.  Let  this  be  followed  up  in  the  closer 
contact  of  the  prayer-meetings.  Compel  Christians  for 
thet  ime  being  to  forget  the  impenitent  in  their  great  con- 
cern about  their  own  condition  before  God. 

The  tendency  is  to  turn  at  once  to  the  impenitent. 
The  impression  prevails  that  God  is  not  working  if  con- 
versions are  not  taking  place.  The  moment  some 
Christians  begin  to  pray  for  a  work  of  God,  they  lose  all 
sight  and  thought  of  the  church  in  a  great  zeal  for  con- 
verts. Let  the  pastor  correct  this  habit ;  get  his  people 
to  heart-searching  and  penitence  and  confession  and 
humbling  of  soul  before  God;  and  have  them  under- 
stand that  this  is  more  acceptable  to  God,  and  more 
likely  to  secure  his  large  blessing,  than  a  sudden  zeal  for 
the  impenitent,  and  that  they  are  in  no  condition  to  do 
the  ungodly  much  service  until  they  have  humbled 
themselves  before  God. 

(4)  As  soon  as  the  pastor  finds  a  heart  kindled 
with  any  unusual  emotion,  or  bowed  with  any  unwonted 
sense  of  sin,  or  yearning  with  any  unwonted  desire  for 
God's  glory  let  him  get  alongside  that  heart,  lay  it  and 
his  own  together,  and  in  the  fellowship  of  that  common 
sense  of  sin  and  yearning  for  a  blessing,  let  them  keep 
company  at  the  altar  of  prayer. 


20  REVIVALS. 

(5)  Find  a  second  or  third  also  kindled.  Have 
with  these  a  special  weekly  appointment  of  half  an  hour 
for  communion  and  prayer,  pleading  God's  special  prom- 
ises and  bearing  special  cases  before  God. 

(6)  Arrange  a  half  hour  for  concert  of  prayer 
among  the  mothers  in  Israel,  the  devout  and  godly 
women,  who  will  agree  quietly  to  observe  a  certain  half 
hour  or  quarter  of  an  hour  of  the  day  together,  or 
better  perhaps  alone,  for  prayer  for  the  outpouring  of 
God's  Spirit. 

(7)  Call  the  Sunday  school  teachers  together,  and 
have  them  interested  in  the  same  way  for  their  scholars. 
Thus  get  circles  of  prayer  started,  different  interests 
enlisted,  many  "  twos  "  or  "threes"  agreed  as  touching 
one  thing. 

(8)  Increase  appointments  for  public  meetings  onli/ 
as  there  is  demand  for  them.  Have  the  interest  compel 
the  meetings,  and  do  not  appoint  extra  meetings  to  get 
up  interest. 

(9)  With  a  prepared  church  the  pastor  may  turn  to 
the  impenitent,  and  pour  the  hottest  shot  into  their 
ranks,  with  the  fullest  assurance  that  the  conditions  are 
now  present  for  a  great  awakening  and  multiplied  victo- 


WORK  COINCIDENT  AVITH  REVIVAL.  21 

I  do  not  say  that  a  pastor  is  to  wait  for  this  before 
he  makes  appeal  to  the  ungodly.  I  do  not  say  that 
souls  will  not  be  given  him,  though  he  have  no  such 
aroused  and  humbled  and  praying  church  behind  him. 
But  I  do  say  that  no  large  numbers  will  ordinarily  be 
born  to  God  in  connection  with  a  church,  nine-tenths  of 
whose  members  are  asleep  or  drowned  in  worldliness. 

VII.  WORK  COINCIDENT  WITH  REVIVAL. 

PREACHING. 

So  far  as  possible  it  should  be  by  the  pastor,  and  almost 
exclusively  to  the  impenitent. 

The  preaching  should  he  hy  the  pastor^  because  (1) 
no  one  knows  the  need  so  well  as  he.  No  one  can, 
therefore,  so  well  adapt  the  truth  to  the  special  circum- 
stances of  individuals  ;  (2)  he  can  thus  work  on  a  plan, 
have  truths  in  succession,  supply  what  he  knows  to  be 
lacking,  look  toward  a  definite  and  fixed  result ;  (3)  it 
will  associate  the  pastor  in  the  minds  of  the  people  with 
the  work  of  rescue,  and  the  souls  born  to  God  under  his 
preaching  will  come  to  look  upon  him  as  their  spiritual 
father,  and  thus  will  be  formed  one  of  the  tenderest, 
dearest,  most  sacred  relationships  on  earth,  binding  in 
bonds  of  sweet  aflfection  for  all  time,  and  probably  for  all 


22  REVIVALS. 

eternity.  How  can  a  pastor  throw  all  this  away  by 
sending  for  a  traveling  evangelist  on  every  occasion  of 
special  effort  or  special  interest  in  his  parish  ?  Evangel- 
ists are  chiefly  for  waste  and  destitute  places  ;  not  for 
fully  organized  churches  with  oflficers  and  pastors.* 

The 'preaching  should  he  to  the  impenitent,  because 
this  is  the  time  to  strike.  The  church  have  had  in- 
struction and  upbuilding  all  the  year.  They  are  ready 
for  action.     Rescue  work  is  now  to  be  absorbing. 

VISITATION. 

Now  is  the  time  for  frequent  personal  interviews,  eye 
to  eye,  palm  to  palm,  heart  to  heart.  The  pastor  should 
have  a  great  deal  to  say  "  between  four  eyes."  Every 
day  the  winner  of  souls  should  be  out  among  the  people, 
seeking  them  from  house  to  house. 

But  personal  interviews  will  be  convenienced  and  pro- 
moted often  by  their  being  inviced.  And  so  a  daily 
hour  at  the  study  should  be  appointed  for  them. 

USE  OF  BOOKS  AND  TRACTS. 

Books  should  be  very  brief  and  very  pointed.     There 

*Thi8  is  said  in  full  recognition  of  the  inestimable  service  that  has  been 
rendered  to  the  organized  churches,  and  the  unquestionable  seal  of  (iod 
that  has  been  had  by  such  men  as  Whitefield,  Nettleton  and  Finney.  But 
these  are  the  exceptions  and  not  the  rule.  It  still  remains  true  that  the 
natural,  normal  and  Scriptural  agencies  for  doing  the  rescue  work  and 
structural  work  in  the  local  church  are  the  Scripturally  constituted  officers 
and  members  of  that  church. 


WORK  COINCIDENT  WITH  REVIVAL.  23 

are  very  few,  however,  fitted  for  revival  work.  An  ex- 
tended reading  is  not  what  a  sinner  needs  who  is  asking 
the  question,  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?  Tracts 
are  far  better  than  books,  because  commonly  more  brief, 
direct,  pungent.  But  it  should  be  known  exactly  what 
condition  each  tract  is  adaj^ted  to  meet.  There  are 
tracts  suited  precisely  to  some  need,  but  likely  to  do  a 
deal  of  harm  if  furnished  for  every  need.  Better  no 
printed  page  at  all  than  its  indiscriminate  use. 

THE    INQUIRY    MEETING. 

Work  here  is  often  most  delicate  and  difl&cult,  and 
requires  judgment  and  tact. 

A  word  or  two  at  this  point  about  the  inquiry  meet- 
ing in  general  before  consideration  of  the  work  in  said 
meeting  at  a  season  of  special  revival. 

The  very  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  involves  and 
necessitates  an  inquiry  meeting,  or  something  that 
answers  to  it.  Possibly  it  were  well  to  change  the 
name  in  view  of  existing  prejudice  against  this  agency 
because  of  its  abuses,  but  the  thing — i.  e.,  some  kind  of 
opportunity  to  inquire  further  concerning  truth  already 
heard  and  felt — is  vital  to  any  high  and  wide  success. 

The  inquiry  meeting  is  drawing   the  net  after  it  has 


24  REVIVALS. 

been  cast  by  the  sermon.  It  should  be  a  permanent 
feature  of  church  work,  and  held  immediately  after 
every  public  preaching  service  the  whole  round  year. 

Reasons.  (1)  At  any  service  there  may  be  a  soul 
reached  and  moved  by  the  truth. 

(2)  Death  may  intervene  before  a  later  appointment 
can  be  met. 

(3)  Delay  will  give  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the 
devil  time  to  dissipate  impressions. 

(4)  Under  the  immediate  influence  of  the  truth 
inquirers  will  be  most  likely  to  improve  the  opportunity 
ofi"ered  for  personal  conversation. 

(5)  When  the  impression  is  the  freshest,  further 
work  will  be  the  easiest.  The  Spirit  of  God  is  already 
there,  and  this  is  recognizing  and  following  His  lead. 

(6)  The  permanent  appointment  takes  away  the 
appearance  of  spasiiwdic  eff'ort,  and  gives  the  impres- 
sion that  the  Church  of  God  is  always  expecting 
results. 

(7)  It  enables  the  pastor  to  discover  the  earliest 
"  sound  of  a  going  in  the  tops  of  the  mulberry  trees." 
If  there  be  any  special  moving  of  God's  spirit  it  will  at 
once  be  manifested  in  attendance  at  this  permanent 
appointment.     I  have  known  good  men  startled  at  the 


WORK  COINCIDENT  WITH  REVIVAL.  25 

sudden  discovery  of  wide  spiritual  interest  in  their  con- 
gregations, they  having  preached  in  ignorance  of  it  for 
weeks,  and  even  months. 

I  can  conceive  of  no  possible  opposing  considerations 
to  outweigh  these  seven  good  reasons  for  furnishing  an 
opportunity  of  personal  religious  conversation  with  the 
Pastor  to  any  who  might  wish  it  on  any  Sabbath  Day. 

Those  invited  to  this  appointment  should  be  made 
distinctly  to  understand  that  their  attendance  is  not  a 
profession  of  religion^  nor  a  commitment  to  Christ,  nor 
an  acknowledgment  of  deep  feeling,  nor  even  the  avowal 
of  a  determination  to  seek  Christ;  hut  simply  the 
expression  of  a  desire  for  personal  conversation 
on  the  subject  of  personal  religion.  The  way  to 
this  meeting  has  often  been  barred  by  making  the 
going  there  involve  too  much.  It  should  be  under- 
stood to  involve  nothing  but  a  willingness  to  hear  farther 
of  the  matter,  concerning  which  something  has  already 
been  heard. 

THE    CONDUCT   OF   AN   INQUIRY    MEETING   AT    A     SEA- 
SON    OF    SPECIAL   INTEREST. 

(a)  It  should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  pastor  always. 
For,  first,  the  truth  from  his  lips  has  made  the  impres- 
sion ;  it  would  seem  better  that  the  truth  from  his  lips 


26  REVIVALS. 

should  deepen  the  impression.  Who  so  well  fitted  as  he 
to  press  still  further  his  own  thought  ?  Secondly,  the 
inquirer  will  commonly  prefer  conversation  with  the 
pastor  to  any  other. 

(6)  If  the  inquirers  are  numerous  the  pastor  should 
have  assistance  in  the  meeting.  But  the  persons  to 
assist  should  be  selected  by  the  pastor  and  their  consent 
to  act  secured,  and  the  meeting  should  never  be  thrown 
open  to  all  sorts  of  volunteers.  Superficial  and  officious 
persons  may  do  incalculable  harm  in  such  a  place. 

The  pastor  should  fearlessly  go  outside  his  church 
officers  for  persons  in  his  judgment  best  fitted,  both  by 
experience  diud  present  spiritual  interest  for  this  work  if 
they  are  not  to  be  found  amongst  his  official  helpers. 
Fitness  alone,  not  office,  has  any  claim  here. 

Young  converts,  whose  experience  is  unquestionable, 
and  whose  clear,  intelligent  views  the  pastor  is  sure  of, 
who  are  fresh  from  the  world  and  full  of  the  joy  of 
their  new  espousals,  certainly  may  be  of  service  in 
pointing  others  to  Christ.  It  would  seem  that  those 
would  be  able  to  make  the  way  plain  to  others  who  had 
just  been  over  the  road  themselves. 

Yet  the  greatest  prudence  is  needed  here.  Young 
converts   know    little    of    the   varied    methods    of    the 


WORK  COINCIDENT  WITH  REVIVAL.  27 

Spirit's  operatious.  They  are  apt  to  magnify  unduly  the 
particular  experience  through  which  they  have  passed, 
and  to  emphasize  therefore  that  which  is  incidental  and 
variant  in  connection  with  the  great  change,  rather  than 
that  which  is  fundamental  and  constant.  Every  in. 
quirer  should  be  made  to  understand  that  no  particular 
experience  is  necessarily  to  be  reproduced  in  his  case. 

(c)  No  time  should  be  taken  for  general  exercises, 
whether  singing,  Scripture-reading  or  address.  The 
long  range  has  been  had  in  the  more  public  service. 
This  is  the  place  for  close  personal  encounter,  for  face-to- 
face  individual  work  with  each  inquirer. 

(d)  In  this  work  of  personal  conversation  the  aim 
should  be,  first,  to  find  out  the  exact  posture  of  the 
inquirer  s  mind.  Diagnosis  before  prescription.  The 
pastor  or  Christian  teacher  should  turn  inquirer,  and 
ascertain  how  the  person  with  whom  he  is  conversing  is 
viewing  the  truth,  what  the  trouble  is,  the  point  of  diffi- 
culty, and  the  direction  of  the  Spirit's  striving. 

Secondly,  to  pour  in  at  that  very  point  the  truth  of 
God,  making  much  use  of  the  very  words  of  the 
Scripture.  Objections  should  be  met  by  Scripture,  dif- 
ficulties removed  by  Scripture  doubts  dissipated  by 
Scripture. 


28  REVIVALS. 

Thirdly,  to  press  to  an  immediate  decision — an  in- 
stant surrender.  Whatever  the  circumstances  of  the 
sinner,  no  counsel  can  be  right  that  does  not  mean  now. 

Cautions:  1.  Avoid  protracted  conversation,  A 
few  direct  words  straight  to  the  conscience  and  heart, 
driven  home  and  clinched  by  some  passage  of  Scripture, 
after  the  situation  of  the  inquirer  is  once  ascertained, 
are  far  better  than  a  multitude  of  words,  however  good. 

2.  Avoid  successive  conversation  by  different  individ- 
uals with  the  same  inquirer.  These  will  almost  inevita- 
bly be  confusing  and  diverting.  A  profound  impression 
made  by  one  Christian  may  be  wholly  dissipated  by  the 
talk  of  another  who  does  not  know  what  has  already 
been  done. 

3.  Avoid  controversy.  Nothing  will  so  soon  ease  a 
sinner  of  trouble  on  account  of  his  sin,  as  a  good  battle 
over  some  controverted  point  in  theology.  His  presence 
in  the  inquiry  meeting  implies  that  he  feels  himself  a 
sinner.  The  Christian  is  to  meet  his  difficulties  there 
and  nowhere  else. 

(e)  In  the  case  of  each  inquirer  the  conversation 
should  he  followed  hy  prayer.,  and  participation  in 
prayer  hy  the  inquirer,  personally  and  audibly^  should 
by  all  means  be  secured  if  possible,  though  it  be  only 


WORK  COINCIDENT  WITH  REVIVAL.  29 

witli  a  half  dozen  words,  such  as  "  God  be  merciful  to 
me  a  sinner;"  "  Lord,  save,  or  I  perish,"  or,  better  still, 
as  involving  a  personal  commitment,  "  Here  and  now,  0 
Lord,  just  as  I  am,  I  give  myself  to  thee  forever."  It 
is  some  such  conscious,  solemn  act  of  commitment  and 
surrender  as  this  that  involves  faith  and  brings  it  to 
prominence  in  the  sinner's  own  mind. 

CLASSES    OF    SINNERS. 

The  two  all  comprehensive  classes  are  converted 
sinners  and  unconverted  sinners.  An  inquirer  may  he 
in  the  former  class.  Diagnosis  should  discover  the  exact 
situation. 

For  the  purposes  of  the  inquiry  meeting  the  uncon- 
verted need  only  be  classified  as  without  conviction  of 
sin,  aod  under  conviction  of  sin. 

(a)  Tke  unconvicted.  Say  what  we  may  about  the 
universal  conscience  and  the  universal  consciousness, 
there  is  a  difference  amongst  men  that  we  must  recog- 
nize and  act  upon  if  we  would  have  any  success  in  win- 
ning souls.  There  are  men  at  ease  concerning  them, 
selves,  indifferent  as  to  God's  claims,  untroubled  on 
account  of  sin.  They  have  no  care  and  no  thought 
about  their  souls.     They  have  no  sense  of  personal  sin 


30  REVIVALS. 

as  against  God  and  deserving  punishment.     They  are 
unconvicted. 

(b)  The  convicted.  These  have  come  to  see  their 
sin  in  some  measure.  Ey  seme  truth  or  providence  of 
God  they  have  been  led  in  <ireater  or  less  degree  to  feel 
their  guilt,  and  to  think  about  the  way  of  getting  rid  of 
it.  The  feeling  may  be  very  slight,  stirring  only  the 
surface  ;  or  very  deep,  stirring  the  whole  soul.  It  may 
only  give  a  shade  of  seriousness  to  the  look  or  heart,  or 
it  may  fill  with  the  profoundcst  anxiety.  In  either  case, 
and  in  any  such  case  they  arc  convicted  of  sin — of  sin 
as  against  God  and  as  deserving  punishment.  Blessed 
is  the  pastor  who  has  gotten  a  soul  in  such  a  case.  It 
is  the  supreme  moment  in  a  sinner's  life  when  he  is  in  a 
posture  willingly  and  thoughtfully  to  consider  the  ques- 
tion, What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ? 

DEALING    WITH    THE    UNCONVICTED. 

The  want  of  conviction  is  usually  conditioned  in  one 
of  three  things — Indifference.,  Procrastination^  or  Self- 
Righteousness.  Find  out  which,  and  strike  the  blows 
there.  If  by  any  possibility  the  person's  thought  as  to 
himself  and  God  can  be  gotten,  then  to  show  its  folly 
and  sin  is  a  straight  road. 


WORK  COINCIDENT  WITH  REVIVAL.  31 

DEALING    WITH    THE   CONVICTED. 

The  question  to  be  answered  is  only  one.  What 
such  a  soul  needs  to  know  is,  what  he  must  do  to  be 
saved.  Not  what  he  must  do  to  have  more  conviction, 
or  more  feeling  or  more  faith,  or  anything  else. 

(a)  That  advice  is  wrong  which  tells  a  sinner  to  do 
anything  which  he  can  do  and  still  be  unsaved. 

Hence  that  is  had  advice, 

1.  Which  simply  sets  a  man  to  the  proces.^  of  refor- 
mation.    Reformation  is  not  regeneration. 

2.  Which  merely  counsels  attendance  on  religious 
meetings.  The  Bible  nowhere  sends  an  inquirer  to 
religious  meetings. 

3.  Which  consists  only  in  telling  the  inquirer  to  pray 
and  read  his  Bible.  He  may  have  been  doing  just  this 
for  days  and  weeks  with  no  result. 

4.  Which  urges  public  confession  of  ^  Christ  and 
union  with  the  church.  He  must  first  ^nc?  Christ  before 
confessing  Him.  And  union  with  the  church  ought 
never  to  be  thought  of  or  suggested  until  the  sinner  is 
by  faith  united  to  Christ. 

5.  Which  contents  the  sinner  with  the  thought  that  if 
he  desire  to  be  a  Christian  he  need  only  heep  on  in  his 


32  REVIVALS. 

search  and  sfcking.     His  "  keeping"   on  is  rebellion  so 
long  as  he  does  not  surrender  and  believe. 

6.  Which  sets  a  sinner  merely  to  praT/iiiff  for  a  new 
heart.  This  is  no  Bible-taught  prayer,  and  God  will 
never  give  a  man  a  new  heart  until  the  old  heart  is 
given  to  Him. 

7.  Which  urges  the  sinner  to  try  to  repent.  God's 
word  says,  "  Repent.'" 

8.  Which  compromises  with  the  sinner ;  e.  g. — the 
question  is  asked,  Don't  you  think  one  can  be  a  Chris- 
tian and  dance  ?  Probe  that  questioner,  and  the  like- 
lihood is  he  will  be  found  making  terms  with  God 
just  at  that  point.  If  so,  however  innocent  the  dance 
or  any  other  thing  may  be  in  itself,  he  who  makes  a 
point  with  God  about  it  must  have  for  answer  to  the 
above  question,  ''  Yes,  but  you  can't." 

9.  Which  tells  an  inquirer  to  do  anything  whatever 
when  he  comes  expecting  to  do  something  to  merit  sal- 
vation, or  to^^  himself  for  it.  Then  he  is  to  be  told 
that  nothing  is  to  be  done.  "  Doing,"  in  that  mood, 
"  is  a  deadly  thing."  "  It  is  finished  "  is  the  word  of 
Jesus  that  should  knock  the  foundation  out  from  under 
all  such  hope. 

(h)  That  advice  is   right  which  tells  a  sinner  to  do 


WORK  COINCIDENT  WITH  REVIVAL.  33 

just  what  in  his  immediate  case  needs  to  he  done  to 
carry  his  heart  in  instant  surrender  and  trust  to  Christ. 
This  will  be  found  to  be  very  different  in  different  cases. 
To  tell  one  who  comes  asking  what  he  must  do  to  be 
saved,  to  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  may  not 
meet  his  need  at  all.  That  may  not  be  the  thing  he 
most  needs  to  know  and  do.  Believe  he  must,  beyond 
all  question,  before  he  can  be  saved.  Faith  is  first  in 
the  order  of  the  graces,  the  hinge  that  turns  the  whole 
soul  about,  without  which  no  man  can  please  God.  But 
to  tell  an  inquirer  to  believe,  may  not  touch  the  secret  of 
the  difficulty  WITH  HIM.  For  unbelief  may  not  be  his 
specific  trouble  ;  may  not  be  the  point  of  the  Spirit's 
striving. 

Paul  told  the  Philippian  jailer  to  helieve  on  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  but  Peter  told  the  Jews  at  Pentecost  in 
answer  to  the  same  question  to  repent,  and  Jesus  told 
the  young  man  of  the  Gospel  to  ffo  and  sell  all  that  he 
had  and  give  it  to  the  poor,  and  Joshua  and  Elijah  and 
Jesus  summoned  to  decision — bade  men  make  choice. 
Each  struck  a  blow  at  the  immediate  difficulty.  The 
direction  in  each  case,  if  followed,  would  carry  the 
whole  heart.  Each  told  the  inquirer  to  do  just  what  in 
each  particular  case  was  the  specific  thing  to  be  done. 


34  REVIVALS. 

Yet  in  one  case  it  was  ''  believe,"  in  another  '•  repent," 
in  another  "surrender,"  in  ano:her  •■choose."  Hence, 
if  right  advice  is  to  be  given  the  counselor  must  know 
the  case.  Hence  the  importance  of  the  point  previously 
mad e — diag nos is  b e/o re  p rescr iption. 

VIII.  WORK  SUBSEQUENT  TO  REVIVAL. 

This  brings  us  to  the  best  means  of  husbanding  the 
fruits  of  revivals. 

1.  Converts  should  be  enrolled  as  inembers  of  the 
church  upon  satisfactory  evidence  of  their  conversion. 
When  they  show  that  they  are  of  Christ's  flock,  they 
have  a  right  in  the  fold. 

2.  Converts  should  be  taught  specially  and  system- 
atically in  Christian  doctrine.  Express  provision  of 
some  kind  should  be  made  for  this,  that  these  new  disci- 
ples may  be  early  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  faith. 

3.  Converts  should  be  put  immediately  at  some  active 
service.  Early  activity  of  brain  and  heart  and  hands 
and  tongue  in  Christian  directions  will  make  future  wall- 
flowers and  dumb  Lazaruses  and  drones  in  the  church  an 
impossibility.  Only  let  the  activity  be  suited  to  the 
case,  both  in  kind  and  degree,  and  provocative  of  neither 
pride  nor  depression. 


WORK  SUBSEQUENT  TO  REVIVAL.       35 

4.  Converts  sliould  he  given  congenial  association. 
Some  of  them  have  been  revolutionized  not  only  in  their 
inner  life,  but  in  all  outward  association.  They  must 
be  surrounded  by  somethinpj  that  shall  take  the  place  of 
old  companionship. 

5.  The  new  disciples  should  be  made  to  understand 
that  tluir  type  of  pidy  must  he  hetter  than  that  they 
fin  d  in  the  church.  How  is  the  church  ever  to  grow 
beautiful  for  situation,  and  to  have  her  robes  spotless 
and  befitting  the  bride  of  Christ,  if  the  coming  Chris- 
tians take  no  higher  plane  of  Christian  living  than 
those  who  have  preceded  them  ? 

6.  The  whole  church  must  be  made  familiar  with  the 
idea  that  training  young  disciples  is  just  as  important 
as  securing  them  ;  and  that  this  duty  and  privilege  are 
at  the  door  of  every  church  member  receiving  these 
young  converts  to  communion. 


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